Ruins, Sunny Weather, Catwalks and Leather
Kusadasi, where we are staying, is a resort town, swelling to a million people during summer. It’s known as party town, full of restaurants and bars. Though we’ve missed the summer hype, it’s a great time to be here to avoid the crowds. Having said that, our hotel seems to be bursting at the seams with British tourists, most of whom get up early to go and claim a poolside banana chair with a strategically placed towel. We met a couple in the lift who have stayed in our hotel 15 times.
Hooning along the highway this morning. we passed the turn-off to Bodrum, the Saint Tropez of Türkiye, with its 7 star hotels, Michelin Star restaurants and movie star population. Shannon Noll, revealing he had a soft spot for actress Meryl Streep, recalled for us the day he spotted her under a wide-brimmed hat and dark glasses in Bodrum. The minute she lifted her glasses, he realised who she was and started screaming on the spot, blowing her cover somewhat. I’d have loved to see that.
As we motored past fields of bright yellow sunflowers. Shenon (short for Shannon Noll) used his big pointy stick to show us, on the map, how close we were to so many of the Greek Isles. They’re almost attached to Turkey (Greek…for now, he says) Apparently you can be on the coast of Türkiye and hear the music coming from Greece. 12 Greek islands made a pact with Türkiye to waive the need for a visa and the island population comes to Türkiye for their groceries. Shenon explained that though their languages are similar- especially words for fruit and veggies (and swear words) - and they share so much history and culture - there’s still an underlying tension between the nations that runs deep. This is seen clearly in Cyprus, which has been divided up the middle since 1974, one side Greek and one side Turkish and never the twain shall meet.
Narrowly missing a herd of cows as they crossed the road slowly with their old, crook carrying shepherdess, a colourful scarf draped around her head and shoulders, we pulled into the modern carpark of the ancient city of Miletus. Occupied since 4000BC, when the Hitites hung out here, the first actual city wouldn’t spring up until 1100BC, at the creative hands of The Mycenaeans, who colonised a big chunk of the coastline back in the day. Changing sea levels have pushed the town away from the water’s edge but we could still see sea shells in the sandy soil (try and say that 3 times quickly!).
The Meander River meandered through here, coining the phrase and ownership fell into the hands of the usual suspects - Persians, Romans, Alexander the Great - in the generations to follow.
The almost completely intact theatre, with a 15,000 seating capacity and originally 3 levels of seats, was incredible! This was the ancient world’s cross between Allianz Stadium and the Sydney Opera House rolled into one. Amazingly, not much has really changed in stadium design (except maybe the marble quota). This place had an ‘auditorium’, an ‘orchestra pit’ and tall wall behind the stage to provide pristine acoustics. You could be anywhere in the audience and hear a whisper from the stage with perfect clarity. A bunch of young influencers (who even had a cache of different outfits to change into!) went out of their way to prove this to us, their giggles and incessant chatter, as they pouted and posed, drowned out any conversations we were trying to have on the ground. Seemingly oblivious, they kept it up until someone in our group whispered ’shhhhh’ and they toned it down a notch.
Dean and Sam (& a few other crazies) forgot they weren’t mountain goats and scaled the precariously high rocky roof for a panorama to take your breath away (I’m just happy with a photo) while Michele and I continued in our quest for the perfect iPhone pics.
The theatre had cells and cages below the stage where the wild lions were kept. This very stadium had been a blood bath where the very cruel and sick practice of throwing Christians to the lions had taken place. It’s hard to believe this was actually a warm-up act for the main show. Sends shivers down your spine.
Our next whirlwind stop was Didyma, a cute little place with some seriously awesome ruins. What was left of Apollo’s temple soared into the sky and there was a plethora of massive columns to weave through, surely going down in history as one of the most epic venues for hide-and-seek ever.
As we queued to get into the ruins, the owner of the restaurant across the road mingled with the line-up, spruiking the merits of his extensive menu and assuring Denise that he had the highest quality French Fries this side of Istanbul. The other restaurant in town was called Probably. It was empty, either because their owner hadn’t the initiative to cross the road to advertise in person or because it wasn’t any good. The latter is Probably the case.
The little family-owned restaurant, where cats roamed freely, also proudly displayed a poster-sized photo of their daughter in a graduation gown. They cooked delicious food but weren’t too speedy in the delivery department, meaning we had to almost jog back to the bus to avoid being left behind.
On the way back to our hotel, we made a quick stop (not quick enough for some) to the Silvio Leather Emporium. Offered wine and apple tea we were ushered into a long room with a catwalk up the middle and were treated to a quick non-riveting video on leather production and an unexpected leather jacket fashion show. To our great surprise, Ross and I, along with an unsuspecting Katrina and Doris, were plucked from the audience to make our debut as super models, strutting our stuff before a very enthusiastic crowd. Ross, the clear crowd favourite, wowed the punters when he pulled some of his signature moves.
This afternoon we revelled in the wind-free conditions, soaking up the sun and splashing in the sea. Doris (aka Dora the explorer) took us for an adventurous swim around the great hunks of rock protruding from the waves. The swell increased as the afternoon wore on so we migrated to the pool for a dip and I even had time for a sauna before - seriously - the best buffet dinner on earth.
After-dinner cards were on the agenda to round off what was a full and fun day.
